title: Nematicons and their electro-optic control: light localization and signal readdressing via reorientation in liquid crystals.
abstract: Liquid crystals in the nematic phase exhibit substantial reorientation when the molecules are driven by electric fields of any frequencies. Exploiting such a response at optical frequencies, self-focusing supports transverse localization of light and the propagation of self-confined beams and waveguides, namely "nematicons". Nematicons can guide other light signals and interact with inhomogeneities and other beams. Moreover, they can be effectively deviated by using the electro-optic response of the medium, leading to several strategies for voltage-controlled reconfiguration of light-induced guided-wave circuits and signal readdressing. Hereby, we outline the main features of nematicons and review the outstanding progress achieved in the last twelve years on beam self-trapping and electro-optic readdressing.
authors.affiliation: Nonlinear Optics and OptoElectronics Lab (NooEL), University of Rome "Roma Tre", Via della Vasca Navale 84, Rome 00146, Italy. assanto@uniroma3.it.
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piccardi
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alberucci
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Assanto
mesh_terms: D008027:Light; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry*